Ball-bearing.



BEST AVAILABLE QOPY F. W. WITTB.

I BALL Baum,

APPLIUATION FILED APB. 11,1008.

Patented Oct. 6,1908.

' cage in section.

UNITED STATES PATENT osrion.

FREDERIGKWILLIAM WITTE, OF LEIPZIG-PLAGWITZ, GERMANY.

1 BALL-BE ARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

Original application filed April 23, 1906, Serial No. 313,254. Divided and this application filed April 11, 1908.

Serial No 426,624.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK WILLIAM \Vrr'ra, acitizen of the United States, formerly residing atChelmsford, in the county of Essex, England, but now residing at Leipzig-Plagwitz, Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ball-Bearings, of which the following is a specification. I l

I This invention relates to'ball bearings of the self contained single row two point type in which the balls travel in two tracks of equal depth and approximately of the same curvature as the balls and of which many forms are in use.

The present invention (which was described in an application filed by. me on the 23rd April 1906 Serial No. 3183254 and of which this is a divided case) consists of a bearing of the type having gaps inv the sideof one of the rings all the way round same, each ball having its own gap appropriated to it. In the type above described, the gaps pass directly into the track at the full depth of same which is a disadvantage as will be hereinafter pointed out, and the objectof ghe present invention is to obviate this deect.

In the accompanying drawing there 'is' illustratedby way of example a form of bearing inwhich my present invention appears. Inthis Figure l is a cross section, and Fig; 2 is a face View but with the ball The inner ring a and the outer ring I) as will be seen have the usual curved. tracks for the balls,'while from one side of one of these rings, in this case the ring 6 (or less desirably the ring a) there are formed the' usual ball gaps or grooves c one for each ball, said balls-being spaced apart by some form of cage 6 or other spacing device. The gaps are shown in the form illustrated in I the drawing as entering the track spirally or'similarly to a rifling, but they may be straight. In the arrangement shown two of the balls are similarly closer together-but this forms part of the subject matter of my application previously referred to and: need not be described here. Heretofore these gaps have passed directly into the track their bottoms entering same at the'point of the depth of the-lowest part of the track. In assembling this form of bear ng all the balls (with or without the cage) are placed in the track of the ring a, one of such balls being in each gap, and theballs will then pass into the track of the ring; I) through the gaps without any pressure being required,

but, conversely. they are equally easily dislodged and the' bearing destroyed by side 7 pressure. Further the track/being cut into on the running line of the balls speedily wears and breaks up for this reason.

According to my invention '1 form each gap or groove 0 so that it enters the side of the track on an incline as shown in the upper part of Fig. 1 but owing to the fact that it ment cl is preserved which necessitates the hearing being assembled under pressure and I conversely presents an elfective means of resisting side thrustand. the consequent dis- 1 solution of the bearing.

Moreover the running line or point of contact with the balls of the track, is preserved thus reirdering a bearing of this type efficient as to wear. In addition to the gaps inclining downwardly enters the track at the side and less than the full depth of same, that is not. on the running line or point of ball contact an abutor inwardly (whereby a flared opening is presented on the extension of the ring for receivingthe balls) they may be as shown formed spirally (as has before been proposed for single ball filling gaps), that is spirally to the axial line of the bearing, and of such apitch that the rear end of the gap just where it terminates before the track or in the abutment d is below the front edge f of the full wall of the track which is between each gap. Thus owing to the gradualentry of each gap toward the abutment d there is a very small'pointwhere such abutment isof its minimum height, and even at this point the contact line of the. ball with the track will be behindthe front .edge f or full depth 1 of the v-all which. is preserved between each gap. 'lhus excess of lateral pressureflwill have little effect in displacing the balls un-' less it were accompanied by a twist-in the direction of the spiral gap or reversely to, the enterin-g direction of the balls which is unlikely to occur under ordinary running conditions' v The bearing either with the straight or spiral gaps isassembled as in the older form, .but pressure is put upon the balls, or the ring a, to force the balls past the abutment d, the elasticity of the ring I) being taken advantage offor this purpose.

I am aware that a low abutment partly around a rin has been proposed and that the balls are forced over this by pressure or by expansion of the ring but this arrangement produces a defective ring for resisting strains as the portions of the side walls of full depth between the gaps which is the advantage of thisform of bearing is lost.

A particular advantage of the spiral form of gap is that in assembling the parts the pressure necessary to get them in causes them any suitable angular gap which is not in an axial line from the outside of the ring toward the track. 7

The present invention differs from those heretofore known having a single gap or opening in one ring fully entering the track or in both rings with an abutment as I de scribe as the method of assemblin in that case is to put the last few balls 1n sin y through the gap after the rings were brought concentric and in the same plane and they. have the disadvantage that the single gap weakens the ring or rings) to a far greater extent than-a series of smaller gaps equally, or practically equally, spaced apart all round same.

What is claimed is A ball bearing comprising balls, an inner and an outer ring, each having acnrved track, and one of said rings having gaps around its edge for the balls, each gap passing spirally from one side inwardly toward the track and being of a depth where it enters the track whlch is less than the full depth of such track, whereby an abutment for the balls is left at the end of each gap.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK WILLIAM WIT'IE.

Witnesses:

RUDOLPH Felons, JULI S ORB. 

